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Czech Republic March 2013: Skoda Rapid gets serious

* See the Top 150 best-selling models and Top 43 All-brands by clicking on the title! *

2013 is definitely not shaping up to be the best of years for new car sales in the Czech Republic with March down another 21% year-on-year to 13,820 registrations, bringing the year-to-date total to 36,453 units, down 16% on 2012. Things are starting to get really interesting within the models ranking podium this month as all models are now in uncharted territory… The Skoda Octavia still leads but spends its 2nd consecutive month below 10% share which it had not done once for the previous 5 years at a weak 8.3% and 1,149 sales. The Skoda Fabia is under 7% share for the third time in a row – this had never happened to the nameplate before in this country – at 849 units and 6.1%, its lowest score since last August.

The reason? The Skoda Rapid, which has inserted itself in the Skoda range between the Fabia and the Octavia, now larger and more expensive with the new generation. It took a bit of time for the Rapid to reach the Czech podium but in March it takes off with 654 sales and 4.7% share. There is now more room between the Octavia and the Fabia (2.2 percentage points) than between the Fabia and Rapid (1.4 percentage points). As I had predicted a couple of months ago, the Rapid could well rock the boat and displace the Fabia from #2 soon or even rank #1 a couple of times this year… Fascinating times ahead for the Czech car market indeed.

Skoda Citigo

Another Skoda model making waves this month after a shaky start is the Citigo, up 10 spots on February to break into the Czech monthly Top 5 for the very first time at #5 with 373 sales and 2.7%, also volume and share records for the model here. With the Superb at #9, Yeti at #10 and Roomster at #11, this means the entire Skoda range (7 models) ranks within the Top 11 this month, better than last October and December when it fit within the Top 12. Can all local models rank within the Top 10 soon?

There are only two other brands represented in the Top 10 this month: Volkswagen with the Golf at a brilliant 4th place and Hyundai placing the i20 at #6, the ix20 at #7 and the i30 at #8… Other great performers include the Fiat 500L up 19 ranks to #24, Dacia Sandero up 21 to #28, Audi A3 up 30 to #30, BMW 3 Series up 22 to #34, Mitsubishi ASX up 64 to #39 and the Seat Toledo up 41 to #52.